Digital Gee

Suppose I wanted to put up a website, say about cycling for instance to keep this at least a little on topic, and use Dreamweaver to create it. Can anyone tell me about the learning curve with this application? I'm using an iMac with OS 10.4.8, I'm fairly familiar with InDesign if you could compare the two in terms of complexity, etc. I don't want to use a website template such as are widely available, because I want to have everything customizable. I used a website called Lynda.com to learn InDesign and it came pretty quickly.

Anyone have experience with Dreamweaver?

stapfam

Used it about 10 years ago but Had to keep the manual to hand all the time. I just did not use it often enough to get it to be natural. However- My son-in -law uses it all the time and he says it is about the best web page constructor out there. Mind you- He is a programming consultant and his main job is to keep websites up to date and running.

maddmaxx 

He's also not 50+ which may have a little to do with it.

My youngest son (26) graduated as a computer science major.........I'm a computer science major............sort of like Boeing meets the Wright Bros.

Jet Travis

Speaking for myself--unless I wanted to be a professional web designer, I'd find one of those easy-to-use template-style site builders. Some are pretty good and you'll have more time for riding your bike or goofing off on a message board.

bostongarden

Dreamweaver is excellent. You can be up and running quickly with it. Learning some of the advanced elements can take some time, but, for the basics, I have found it pretty easy. I've had my students use it and they love it. Try out a free demo for a month and then see what you think. If you are an academic or student, you can get a really good price on it, for example, see here (not all academic pricing is the same at all distributors -- also, the academic version is not upgradeable, which I have found is not a big deal at all) :-) Also, you can check eBay for earlier versions.

Retro Grouch 

I'm pretty good with things that have drive chains and sprockets but what your post might just as well be written in Vulcan to me.

Then again, considering the source, maybe it is.

Artkansas 

Dreamweaver can use templates and let you set up your own. For easy stuff it's pretty much drag and drop and lets you see the code as well as the finished design at the same time. It's also able to accomodate a number of plug ins that allow you to do things like making online courseware or including things like Flash. I agree that it is the standard for web page building, and for good reason.

I've used it to make our corporate website as well as helping others with theirs.

You can even make websites about bicycles. Though I'm not sure if Sheldon used Dreamweaver.

Digital Gee

I don't mind using templates, especially if they can be customized, but my problem is my current host/site builder is register.com, and their templates do not allow me to post downloadable PDF files without paying them to do it, as part of a $20 a month extra charge. If I'm going to pay extra, I'd rather buy a program, learn it, and have complete control of my website.

I like having the ability to make changes and updates quickly (and easily!). Flash isn't that important to me.

bcoppola

Dreamweaver is superb, though I'm a couple of versions behind (using MX from when it was Macromedia Dreamweaver) And the best tutorial/manual for the rank beginner, IMHO, is the H.O.T. (Hands On Training) book from lynda.com by Lynda Weinmann. Take it from an (unemployed) instructional designer/Web-based training developer.

If you were able to acquire even basic competence in Photoshop as I suspect you have, Dreamweaver will be no sweat to learn.

My own site, barebones as it is, is done in Dreamweaver.

I'm also running my own server with Apache that comes with OS X (shh...don't tell Comcast!).

Yen

I created my own personal website from plain ol' HTML and I'm very thankful I learned and did it that way because now I use HTML in my new job. I am also learning Dreamweaver in my new job as webmaster of a page that already was fully operational. I find myself doing most of the editing in HTML anyway through Dreamweaver rather than using the object-oriented display, strictly out of habit and it gives me a chance to clean up some of the code.

Have you considered a blog? There are customizable templates (and they are easy to change with a few key strokes), they are very quick and easy to update, and some are free.

solveg

I make my living using Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign, and I can't figure out Dreamweaver.

What I'm doing is using Apple's elegant new iweb and making all my pages, and then exporting the pages and uploading them to bluehost.com, which provides you with your own domain for $100/year with unlimited FTP.

stapfam

Talked to the son-in-law, Ross, and Dreamweaver is the one to use. There are a couple of places you can try for free. But all Ross said was that Dreamweaver is the only one he uses- because nothing else is as good.

jstava

Dreamweaver is very good. It has more capability than most will ever run out of, and is fairly intuitive to use. Certainly my favourite. I've used Front Page and other more basic authoring software. Good choice.

There is also a wealth of "learning tools" pitched at all levels available in bookshops and on line. It also has it's own tutorials which are good, but a little bit laborious, as that sort of thing is.

The best thing is to get someone to show you the basics. An hour or two would get you on your way easily.

cccorlew

I like Dreamweaver a lot because I write HTML. Sometimes Dreamweaver is a faster path. I use it for large projects
BUT unless you want to become a code head, it's more than you need. Unless you really want to design, get into CSS and really know your HTML, don't bother.

If you just want to post, use Blogspot or something. You'll end up doing it more. Really.

My site that I did by hand:
https://curtis.corlew.com
I think it has a "look," but note how little it gets updated.

My blogspot site
https://ccorlew.blogspot.com
No special design, but updated a ton

Designing for the web isn't like designing in inDesign. You really need to know what's going on under the hood to do a decent job. For many who don't find that fun, it's better to focus on content and use a different tool.

Yen

That's my experience as well. I've had a personal site for several years. It began with the intention of sharing our family's favorite recipes for family members who would frequently call to ask for them.... I figured if they are on the web, they can get them 24/7. It expanded to cover gardening (another passion of mine), health, and a few other things. The family uses it, but it is VERY out of date (e.g. nothing about cycling!!!). And, I have an excellent host but it's not cheap, so when the last bill came due I paid it to keep it running and decided to take a look at less expensive options.

I began investigating blogs and found that I like them so much more. I've created one for my knitting projects, one for the recipes, and I may start one for gardening. I'm not sure about keeping a gardening blog because I believe it requires more frequent entries than the others and I'm not sure I'd like to keep up with it. I'm already way behind in posting recipes. A blog is a great way to record and categorize stuff such as recipes, projects (knitting, gardening, etc.), bike rides, and more. And it's soooooooo easy -- just click the button to create a new post, save it, and you're done. I'm not a writer by any stretch so I probably won't do a lot of writing, but it's very easy and fun to post photos and comments about the latest project. To transfer my recipes to the blog, I simply copy and paste them from my web site into the blog's text window, do a little editing to reformat if necessary, click Save, and I'm done.

Back to Dreamweaver: Last night I took a look at the tutorials at Lynda.com. Most of them are available only by paid subscription, but the first several are free. I viewed the first Dreamweaver tutorial and I learned several neat things that I hadn't seen or explored in the past few weeks of using it.

Yen

To those of you who use Dreamweaver and like it: Which version are you using? Reviews are mixed on which version is best to use. Currently (in my job) I'm using 7.0.1 and I'm wondering if we should upgrade to CS3(??).

DougG

I use Dreamweaver (currently DW 8) for all my web sites, and I'm 61 so it's not a matter of age. To get the most out of it it does help if you understand what's really going on with HTML, CSS, and other web technologies, but you can produce a pretty nice site with just the basic WYSIWYG interface.

By the way, the thing that really sets a web site apart from others is the quality of the graphic images used on it, such as graphic buttons, menus, etc. And Dreamweaver won't do this for you. You need a web-oriented graphics program to do all that. I happen to use PhotoImpact, but there are many others out there.

A big drawback of DW, especially with CS3, is that it's pretty darn expensive. I paid to upgrade from DW6 to DW8 a couple years ago, but CS3 costs more than I can justify since I'm doing these sites for fun -- not for pay.

Yen

Sooooo..... what did you end up choosing, DG?

Digital Gee

OH that was easy. I fell in love with a web designer! Problems solved!

BengeBoy 

...looking forward to hearing what happens when you need a plumber...

Yen

And they lived happily ever after.

Sooooo...... what does she use to build the site?

Digital Gee

I call a plumber. Learned THAT lesson the hard way!

Digital Gee

Dreamweaver!

fthomas

You can always do what I do with a limited HTM/XML or ********** understanding. Higher someone else to do it. My new website was actually designed using Photoshop (DG - that you would enjoy). In numerous Go to Meeting sessions we could do all kinds of stuff. I was surprised at the functionality, including Flash, that PhotoShop presented.

DreamWeaver may just be over kill.

Jet Travis

Dont fall in love with a plumber.
Because hell always take you in
Just when you think
You're pipes aren't leaking
They're dripping again


Don't ask me how I know this Deeg. Much better you fell in love with a web designer.